Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, a Journey, a Song (2021)

Genre: Documentary
Directed by: Daniel Geller and Dayna Goldfine
Cast: Leonard Cohen, Nancy Bacal, Steve Berkowitz
Running time: 118 minutes

 

This documentary looks at the life and career of poet and singer Leonard Cohen, with a particular emphasis on his best-known song, Hallelujah. It shows how that song became a phenomenon long after its initial launch.

As I get older, Leonard Cohen’s poetry speaks to me more and more. I absolutely loved this documentary. I was hooked, I was moved, I was inspired. This is a great homage to the man and his work.

Rating: «««««

Gangster Squad (2013)

 Genre: Thriller / Action
Directed by: Ruben Fleischer
Cast: Josh Brolin, Ryan Gosling, Sean Penn, Nick Nolte
Running time: 113 minutes

 

Inspired by true events, this film tells the story of a group of LAPD officers who form a secret group called the Gangster Squad, in the late 1940’s, to take down the criminal empire of drug kingpin and former boxer Mickey Cohen.

Visually speaking, this film looks good. It can also count on a cast of talented folks to carry the material. Unfortunately, the material was weak. The characters were underdeveloped and all kind of seem to blend into each other. There was nobody to really care about or root for. And the acting felt uninspired. Even Sean Penn, who is mostly always great, came off bad here.

Rating: ««

Warm Bodies (2013)

Genre: Romantic Comedy
Directed by: Jonathan Levine
Cast: Nicholas Hoult, Teresa Palmer, Rob Corddry, John Malkovich
Running time: 98 minutes

 

Based on the 2010 novel of the same name by Isaac Marion and inspired by Romeo and Juliet, Warm Bodies tells the story of a budding relationship, in the midst of a zombie apocalypse, between a young woman called Julie and a zombie known as R. The presence of Julie in R’s life is slowly bringing him back to human form.

This film is a nice romantic comedy with an apocalyptic edge to it. I love how we are shown a different twist in the old zombie movie narrative. Here, zombies still have a few human traits. They can still speak a few words and feel some things. The story is fun and compelling, and the movie is without pretention. It doesn’t take itself seriously, and that makes it quite charming.

Rating: ««««

Casino (1995)

Genre: Drama
Directed by: Martin Scorsese
Cast: Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, Sharon Stone
Running time: 178 minutes

 

Based on a non-fiction book by Nicholas Pileggi, this film covers the rise and fall in the gambling business of sports handicapper Sam Rothstein, who is sent out to Las Vegas by the Chicago mafia to run the Tangiers casino.

I love Scorsese movies. I love Robert De Niro. I also dig Joe Pesci when he does what he does. Here, we get all of that and more. Even Sharon Stone was quite efficient here in her role. While not as awesome as Goodfellas, Casino is still great. It feels a little long and dragged out at times, but it is still well worth the investment in time.

Rating: ««««

 

Québec-Montréal (2002)

Genre: Franco / Comedy
Réalisateur: Ricardo Trogi
Distribution: Patrice Robitaille, Jean-Philippe Pearson, Stéphane Breton
Durée : 104 minutes

 

Ce film suit le parcours de trois groupes de personnes faisant le trajet entre Québec et Montréal en voiture. D’abord, un groupe de trois amis célibataires pendant dans le Sud ensemble. Ensuite, deux collègues de travail, un homme et une femme, faisant du covoiturage pour aller à une conférence. Finalement, un couple vivant des moments difficiles qui s’apprête à déménager pour tenter de se donner un second souffle. Tous discutent de différentes façons des relations de couple.

Québec-Montréal est une bonne comédie axée en grande partie sur les dialogues. Les textes sont forts et livrés avec beaucoup de naturels par les comédiens. C’est comme si nous voyions de vraies personnes dans leur quotidien et non des personnages. À part peut-être Michel Gauvin (Mike Gauvin), qui est caricatural, mais tellement drôle en même temps comme personnage. Vraiment un bon film sur les relations hommes-femmes.

Note: ««««

The Whale (2022)

Genre: Drama
Directed by: Darren Aronofsky
Cast: Brendan Fraser, Sadie Sink, Hong Chau
Running time: 117 minutes

 

Charlie is a morbidly obese college professor living a reclusive life while teaching an online creative writing course. As he eats himself to death, he feels the urge to rekindle his relationship with the daughter he left behind with his ex-wife eight years prior before it is too late for him.

A few days after seeing this film, it is still in my head. It pulled at my heartstrings like not many movies have in a long time. What a performance by Brendan Fraser. I have never really been impressed by his acting before. Here, he gave the performance of his life. The supporting cast was solid too. And you can feel Aronofsky’s style here. Not pretty, hard, in your face. Great, great film.

Rating: «««««

Quartet (2012)

 Genre: Comedy / Drama
Directed by: Dustin Hoffman
Cast: Maggie Smith, Tom Courtenay, Billy Connelly, Pauline Collins
Running time: 98 minutes

 

Beecham House is a retirement home for retired professional musicians that is risking closure because of financial issues. There is hope that the yearly gala concert will bring in enough money to keep the place going. Among the residents are three retired opera singers who often performed together in a quartet back in the day. When the fourth member of the quartet arrives to live at Beecham, it revives old wounds and create chaos.

This film was Dustin Hoffman’s first venture into movie directing. He clearly had love for the material, and it showed in the end result. He did a good job bringing the pieces together. Great acting compensated greatly for a story that might have been a little overly sweet and predictable around the edges. In the end, it was still an entertaining piece of cinema, based on the play of the same name by Ronald Harwood.

Rating: ««««

À l'origine d'un cri (2010)

Genre: Franco / Drama
Réalisateur: Robin Aubert
Distribution: Michel Barette, Patrick Hivon, Jean Lapointe
Durée : 114 minutes

 

Un fils adulte se voit dans l’obligation de prendre la route avec son grand-père pour retrouver son père, qui est en cavale avec le cadavre de son épouse récemment décédée. Au moment des retrouvailles, les trois hommes, qui ont des relations tendues les uns envers les autres, devront trouver la paix pour calmer cette colère permanente qui fait rage au fond d’eux. 

Ce film est dur et pas facile d’approche. Il n’y a pas beaucoup de dialogue, à l’image des trois personnages principaux, qui, plus souvent qu’autrement, se terrent dans le silence et la colère. Ce film est violent, mais je ne crois pas que cette violence soit gratuite. Elle cadre bien dans l’histoire. Les trois acteurs principaux portent cette histoire sur leurs épaules et ils le font merveilleusement bien. Tout sonne vrai. Toute une œuvre.

Note: «««««

Platoon (1986)

Genre: Drama / Action
Directed by: Oliver Stone
Cast: Tom Berenger, Willem Dafoe, Charlie Sheen
Running time: 120 minutes

 

Chris Taylor is a US army volunteer that arrives in Vietnam in 1967. He is assigned to an infantry platoon within which the sergeant and the two lieutenants are butting heads and arguing on the ways of waging war.

Oliver Stone wrote this film based on his own experience in the Vietnam War. He also did a solid job directing this film. The action and especially the violence of the fight scenes are truly realistic. That image of Willem Dafoe’s character with his arms in the air remain iconic to this day. We have a talented crew of young actors delivering also here. All things considered, this remains a classic.

Rating: «««««

Tu te souviendras de moi (2020)

 Genre: Franco / Drama
Réalisateur: Eric Tessier
Distribution: Rémy Girard, Julie Le Breton, David Boutin, Karelle Tremblay
Durée : 105 minutes

 

Édouard Beauchemin est un professeur d’université à la retraite qui souffre d’Alzheimer. Sa femme Madeleine, qui n’en peut plus, abandonne ses soins entre les mains de leur fille Isabelle et de son conjoint Patrick. Le couple fera appel à la fille jeune adulte de Patrick, Bérénice, pour garder un œil sur Édouard pendant que chacun d’eux est pris par le travail. Un lien étroit se formera entre les deux personnes de deux générations fort différentes.

Ce film est fort touchant. Au-delà de quelques petites minimes fausses notes un peu grosses dans le jeu, j’ai trouvé ce film quasiment parfait. L’histoire est fort touchante, le film est bien réalisé et le jeu des acteurs et actrices est assez solide.

Note: ««««

Arsenault et Fils (2022)

Genre: Franco / Drama
Réalisateur: Rafaël Ouellet
Distribution: Guillaume Cyr, Pierre-Paul Allain, Karine Vanasse, Luc Picard
Durée : 105 minutes

 

La famille Arsenault est propriétaire d’un petit garage dans un village du Bas-du-Fleuve, au Québec. Cela dit, cette entreprise sert plutôt de couverture pour les activités de braconnage du clan, qui sont beaucoup plus lucratives que le travail sur les autos. L’arrivée d’une animatrice de radio nommée Émilie au village chamboule la vie des membres de la famille qui en mène large dans leur petit coin de pays.

Avec une distribution d’acteurs et d’actrices de talent et une histoire bien ficelée, Arsenault et Fils offre un sacré bon divertissement. Les effets musicaux étaient parfois un peu lourds derrière l’action et la fin était peut-être un peu trop artsy et cute à mon humble avis, mais, somme toute, j’ai beaucoup apprécié de film.

Note: ««««

Mathieu Dufour au Centre Bell (2022)

Genre: Franco / Comedy
Réalisateur: Luc Sirois
Distribution: Mathieu Dufour, Ève Landry, Véronique Cloutier
Durée : 63 minutes

 

Le Québécois Mathieu Dufour s’est payé le Centre Bell et il y a fait salle comble. Est-il un humoriste ou un simple influenceur? Difficile à dire. Mais, la foule semblait constamment en redemander. Pour ma part, j’ai peu ri. Je crois que je ne suis tout simplement pas le public cible de ce genre d’événement-spectacle improvisé. Dufour y a raconté diverses anecdotes et fait pas mal d’autocongratulation. Quelques lignes m’ont fait sourire ou rire légèrement, mais une grande partie de ce culte du vide tombait à plat pour moi. Mais, le public capotait. Difficile à comprendre. Je donne du mérite à Dufour pour son auto-dérision. Bon flash d’accueillir Eve Côté pour le « roaster ».

Note: ««

The Rolling Stones: Sticky Fingers Live at the Fonda Theatre 2015 (2017)

Genre: Musical
Directed by: Paul Dugdale
Cast: Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts, Ron Wood
Running time: 96 minutes

 

Live on stage at the Fonda Theatre, in Los Angeles, California, The Rolling Stones debuted a tour celebrating the release of their iconic album Sticky Fingers. Over the course of more than an hour, they performed all ten songs on that recording plus a few more. In between the songs, there were excepts of interviews with the four members of the band discussing the recording of that album and the music that came out of it.

I love the Stones. It is without a doubt my favorite band. Here, while they were not as tight as they can be on stage, they still had great energy and presence. The music was great, though I would have taken a few more songs from outside the Sticky Fingers album.

Rating: ««««

A Bad Moms Christmas (2017)

Genre: Comedy / Christmas
Directed by: Jon Lucas and Scott Moore
Cast: Mila Kunis, Kristen Bell, Kathryn Hahn
Running time: 104 minutes

 

Best friends Amy, Kiki and Karla are all dealing with enormous pressures with their respective mothers all visiting around Christmas time. As tension rises, all three try pushing back to keep their sanity intact.

This sequel to 2016’s Bad Moms is a fun comedic follow-up. Watched it over the holidays and we enjoyed it. The humor is still crass and crude, but I don’t take offense to that myself. While not as fresh as a finished product as the first one, it still manages to be entertaining, with a cast and directors dedicated to having fun with the material.

 Rating: «««